Stories for April 21, 2009

The new Dreamworks/Universal Studios film "The Soloist" is inspired by the true story of journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) and Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy Lopez finds playing the violin on the streets of L.A.

The San Diego County Supervisors voted yesterday to enact a new plan meant to increase the number of people participating in the food stamp program. But critics say some of the steps required to get assistance actually deter people from signing up.

A report released recently by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy shows that US cocaine prices hit a 26 year low in 2007. This undermines repeated claims by the Bush administration that there were unprecedented cocaine shortages at the time.

I just finished watching the new HBO feature film Grey Gardens, based on the acclaimed 1975 documentary by the Maysles brothers. Both tell the story of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter "Little Edie," Manhatten socialites and kin to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.

Who would have thought the world of stamp collecting could be so shady? Apparently there's an underbelly to philately, and it's given dramatic treatment in Mauritius, the new comic thriller at Cygnet Theater.

San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders says the labor agreements being hammered out with city employee unions will do more than help plug this year’s budget gap, they will save the city millions of dollars in pension and health benefits in the future.

Most people agree the U.S. needs to reduce the cost of health care. The problem is how to do it. Some say the key is changing the way this country practices medicine. KPBS Reporter Tom Fudge has the story.

The Colorado River system supplies water to tens of millions of people and millions of acres of farmland. But researchers at UCSD say climate change will likely mean the river won't meet future demands.

How is a South Bay high school violating Title IX, the federal law that forbids sex discrimination in schools? We'll find out about that, and whether Mother's Day giveaways are illegal, with KPBS legal analyst Dan Eaton.

Want to know how we got in this economic mess? Want to know what kind of trouble America's banks are in? Want to know how to translate finance speak? If you're confused, there's nobody better at clearing the fog than NPR's Adam Davidson. Davidson stops by the studio to explain the status of America's banking system.

One Book - One San Diego author reveals an amazing story of courage and creativity during WWII. Diane Ackerman talks about her quest to tell the story of the Polish couple who saved hundreds of Jews by hiding them in the Warsaw Zoo, right under the noses of the Nazis.